Don't Poke The Bear. Or The King.
Nicklaus and Palmer capture the 1970 National Four Ball in wire-to-wire fashion
What a dominate performance by Viktor Hovland to win the Tour Championship by five strokes over Xander Schauffele. It was the third win for Hovland this year and it was Schauffele’s third runner-up finish of the year while he has one victory.
Hovland had rounds of 68-64-66-63. Just a player at the top of his game right now.
Here’s how the Sunday ended for him.
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll, 94% of respondents are against live-action gambling at PGA TOUR events because a random spectator can affect the outcome of the event, while 6% of respondents thought it is a great way to “grow the game.”
In this week’s Tour Backspin Poll, weigh in on the handicapped start to the TOUR Championship. A good way to reward play during the season, or a goofy net tournament?
Tour Backspin Poll
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A fast start for Adam Schenk.
This week, the PGA TOUR is idle. The next scheduled event is the Fortinet Championship at Silverado in Napa, CA, starting September 14th. Then it is the Ryder Cup starting on September 21st! We’ll have some special content for the event. Here is your American team.
I’m just hoping for a very competitive week with the outcome in doubt until the final matches on Sunday.
I can remember the dread when I got hooked up to caddie for a player with the bag in this week’s Vintage Ad.
We’re highlighting some of the greatest live songs from the 1970s in this week’s Tour Backspin Spotify playlist. Listen HERE.
Check out Billy Casper’s sweet, fluid swing in this week’s Swing Like a Pro. Scroll down to view.
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We’ve got a great list of guests for the second season of The Tour Backspin Show. We have unlocked the kick-off to Season 2 with an episode on the Jan Craig Headcover Company. We have upcoming episodes featuring Al Geiberger taking us through his 59 at the 1979 Memphis Open, an interview with Lee Trevino, we check in with Frank Beard and Chuck Courtney. We’ll also be talking to legendary instructor Jim McLean and Skagit Golf and Country Club pro Craig Welty about Carl Welty. You don’t want to miss that one.
Listen to The Tour Backspin Show podcast on Substack with the above links, or on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Podcast.
If you like golf history, check out the Your Golfer’s Almanac podcast. Host Michael Duranko celebrates birthdays, milestones, and other accomplishments that occurred on the day in golf history. Listen HERE.
Congratulations to John Fought who correctly identified hole #16 at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, CA, in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? John beat out seven other correct answers in the random drawing and we have a signed copy of Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema in the mail to John. Check out the 2023 leader board and scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? We’ve got some new prizes to hand out!
Save the Date! The first meeting of The Tour Backspin Show Book Club will meet on Thursday, Sept. 21st at 5 pm (PST) via Zoom.
To get things started, we will be discussing my book on Tony Lema, Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema (it was the easiest guest to book). The book is available on Amazon and if you are a member of Amazon Prime, you can download the Kindle version for free. If you upgrade from a free subscription of Tour Backspin to a premium subscription before Aug. 31st, we’ll send you an author signed copy of the book for free.
We will be featuring other authors and some of the best golf books ever written in future episodes of The Tour Backspin Show Book Club.
Register, for free, at tourbackspin.com through the below link.
We’re playing Who Said It? Palmer or Nicklaus? in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Palmer and Nicklaus Dominate at National Four-Ball Championship
It is 1:05 pm, on Thursday, July 23rd, 1970, and it is raining in Ligonier, PA. where the PGA TOUR is conducting the National Four-Ball Championship at the Laurel Valley Golf Club. Laurel Valley was the home course of Arnold Palmer, and he was paired with Jack Nicklaus in this better ball tournament. Consequently, they were listed as heavy favorites as they prepared for their 1:10 tee time. And, just as they approached the first tee, the clouds dispersed, and the rain ended. A sign from above, perhaps?
By this point in the year, the tour was suffering from a case of the doldrums. The controversies surrounding the U.S. Open at Hazeltine, and the Nicklaus heroics at St. Andrews in the Open Championship provided some excitement for the fans earlier in the year. But, by July, there was unrest amongst tournament sponsors and the new breed of younger players hungry to make their mark, but felt denied the opportunity by the older pros. There were rough waters that the tour was attempting to navigate. Joe Dey, the commissioner of the still new Tournament Players Division was the admiral in charge of navigating those troubled waters.
After not playing the National Four-Ball Championship since 1968, the format of best ball provided a respite from the week-to-week grind that was the tour, and there was a relaxed air at Laurel Valley. The format provided more opportunities for gambling, high risk shots that fans loved to see since if one player was safe the other could go for broke. Sounds like the perfect setup for Palmer (on his home course) and the exacting Nicklaus.
They did not disappoint in the first round. Nicklaus was celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary and he combined with Palmer to shoot a 10-under 61 on the 7,045-yard, par-71 Laurel Valley course to grab the lead. The team of Dean Refram and Jim Colbert were tied with the team of Dave Eichelberger and J.C. Goosie at 64. Bruce Crampton and his partner, Orville Moody were tied at 67 with the team of Sam Snead and Gardner Dickinson, the oldest team in the field. Their combined ages totaled 100 years.
“We weren’t too hot.”
It was those old dudes who came charging out of the pack to tie Palmer and Nicklaus for the second-round lead. Snead and Dickinson posted their own 61 while Palmer and Nicklaus could do no better than a 67.
“We weren’t too hot,” Nicklaus said after the round.
“That’s putting it mildly,” Palmer concurred.
Jim Colbert and Dean Refram, as well as Bruce Crampton and Orville Moody, held steady with rounds of 65 and sat one shot off the lead.
Moody, who had been mired in a months long slump, was ecstatic about his round.
“That’s the best I’ve played in eight months,” he said after the round. “You just don’t know how good it makes me feel. Maybe I’m finally starting to come out of it.”
“He can miss a green, but the only way you can keep him from getting up-and-down in two is to put a lid on the cup.”
Snead and Dickinson did not have a bogey in their round and ran off a string of six consecutive birdies starting on the sixth hole.
“I wouldn’t trade my little partner for a pretty,” Snead said in his West Virginal drawl. “He can miss a green, but the only way you can keep him from getting up-and-down in two is to put a lid on the cup.”
It was hot and muggy for Saturday’s third round and the Palmer and Nicklaus team were challenged from a different direction on the age and experience spectrum. Eichelberger and Goosie, who had to Monday qualify to earn their spot in the tournament, put together a round of 63 which included a 29 on the back nine. Palmer and Nicklaus shot a 64 for a share of the lead with Eichelberger and Goosie at 192. Snead and Dickinson were at 196 and Crampton and Moody were at 194.
Palmer and Nicklaus, who had held or shared the lead for the entire tournament, stumbled on the front nine in Sunday’s final round. They were caught by the pair of players playing in their foursome, Bruce Crampton and Orville Moody when Crampton sank a 12-foot putt on the ninth hole. Nicklaus answered back with a birdie of his own on the 12th hole that put them in the lead. The partisan gallery erupted as Nicklaus brandished his club above his head.
“I like these member-guests. I think they’re great. I’m going to invite Jack every year.”
Palmer missed a birdie opportunity on the 14th hole, but then the pair reeled off back-to-back birdies on the 15th and the 16th holes. Crampton and Moody could not make a birdie in the final nine holes as Palmer and Nicklaus waltzed home while smiling and waving to the delighted gallery. They shot a final round 67 for a four-round total of 259. Crampton and Moody finished three strokes back tied with Snead and Dickinson and Bobby Nichols and his partner, George Archer.
Palmer was in high spirits after the victory telling the press, “I like these member-guests. I think they’re great. I’m going to invite Jack every year.”
It’s one thing to challenge the two titans of the game, but to do it when one of them is playing his home course? There was no need for any help from above, the two superstars won it all by themselves.
The National Four-Ball Tournament was played at Laurel Valley in 1971 and 1972 before the tournament was removed from the PGA TOUR schedule.
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Bonus Story
Joseph Dey, Jr. retired from the USGA in 1968 and in 1969 he became the first commissioner of the newly formed Tournament Players Division of the PGA of America. The TPD was the result of the players breaking away from the PGA in the summer of 1968. That August, Sam Gates, an attorney representing the players, announced the formation of the American Professional Golfers.
The new organization began setting a schedule and were successful in securing tournament dates and sponsors that were previously involved with the PGA. The 1969 season was all set to have competing schedules between the PGA and the APG. Just before the start of the L.A. Open, a negotiated truce was completed that resulted in the Tournament Players Division and Dey was appointed the commissioner. But that did not ensure smooth sailing and by the time of the 1970 National Four-Ball, Dey faced some challenges.
He was stuck in a no-man’s middle ground between the desires of the players and the interests of the sponsors. Sponsors were unhappy when the biggest names chose not to play in their tournament while the players remained independent contractors who were required to play only 15 events per year. Sponsors wanted some sort of reassurance that there would be big names in their tournaments if they were going to hand over the sponsorship money that made the tour tick. They were also unhappy when the schedule was changed, moving tournaments from their traditional spot on the calendar.
In 1970, the most bitter sponsor was the group behind The Texas Open, once known as the father of the winter tour. They were offered dates that conflicted with college football, or on New Year’s Day weekend, and they weren’t happy.
“I’m fed up with the TPD,” said Gilbert S. Brown, president of the San Antonio Golf Association. “I’m in favor of telling them to go to hell. It’s a damned insult to the association and all of San Antonio to be treated this way. Everyone I’ve talked to has said to hell with the pros. They want everything for themselves and don’t want to give a thing. They have no respect for tradition or sentiment.”
By 1974, Dey had had enough of the controversies and retired with Deane Beman taking over the commissioner duties.
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Are you on the leader board?
Tour Backspin Quiz | Who Said It? The Bear or The King?
Do you know which of these quotes belongs to Nicklaus and which belong to Palmer?
1.) “What other people may find in poetry, I find in the flight of a good drive.”
2.) “Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.”
3.) “Pursue what you love, what you are passionate about. Don’t let somebody else dictate you life’s path.”
4.) “I never rooted against an opponent, but I never rooted for him either.”
Scroll down to for answer
Swing Like a Pro
Lee Trevino gives you the secret to hitting chip shots with the proper trajectory (photo: @mentalitygolf via Instagram)
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
Check up on the progress that David McLay Kidd is making on the newest course at Gamble Sands. Read it HERE from Golf Magazine.
Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema tells the story of one of the tour’s biggest stars in the mid-1960s. A fascinating glimpse into the traveling caravan that was the PGA TOUR during an era where the fields were full of “Mad Men” era personalities. From a hardscrabble youth spent on the “wrong side of the tracks” in the Oakland suburb of San Leandro, to the temptations of Elko, Nevada, to the bright lights of the PGA TOUR, Uncorked tells a story of determination, redemption and, above all else, a love story that documents how Betty, Tony’s new wife, provided the direction and motivation for him to become a top star. Order on Amazon.
What is Hip?
Rain or shine, color was the name of the game in 1970. (photo: Golf Digest)
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
1.) Palmer 2.) Nicklaus 3.) Nicklaus 4.) Palmer
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Final Thoughts
Are you getting excited for the Ryder Cup? What do you think of Team USA? Did Zach Johnson get it right? Let us know in the comment section below.
Remember how heavy that Acushnet bag got when the “all-weather, durable leather bottom” got soaked?
That team of Palmer and Nicklaus in 1970 looked studly and unbeatable.